The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1887-06-18

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! VIEW IN THE TECHE CoU Reduced from
Sketch in Harpers.
and wound about and continued away
! from IL for some hours, so that the direc'
! ton in which this water-course lay was
| forgotten.
All at once happening to look towards
the north through some stunted trees, tho
writer's eyes fell upon steamboat NOV
ing slowly westward.
! II looked for all the world like it was
being propelled on land through the timber
indeed for an instant this impression pro-
vailed on the writer's mind
The water in the bayou was so little
below the surface level Of the country and
the stream being very narrow, all helped TO
make the boat seem 10 be moving on cry
land instead Of on the water.
Here was an instance of boat seemin
so much and the water 80 little; on the
great Mississippi, however, with which tie
writer's regiment had already hal so much
TO do, the water appeared vast and i'm
mense while the boat dwarfei into mere
speCk in comparison.
The scene Of General Wetzers and Con-
modore Buchanan's fight in the January
previous and of General Emory's about the
middle Of April, was passed before reach
ing Franklin. Here was seen the wreck
Of the burned Confederate gun-boat Cotton.
BY the way, Commodore Buchanan, who
lost his life here on beard the calhoun
and whose first name was Mexican, was an
officer on board the Congress" destroyed
in Hampton Roads in March, 1862, by the
Confederate "Merimac" commanded by an
o,cn brother, Franklin Buchanan, OF tho
Southern navy Thus in the the great civil
war was brother pitted against brother III
deadly strife
Franklin, u considerable town on th'
bayou, was reache d, and here the command
stopped for time, but, after "a little, sew
eral regiments, luiing the writer's,
were pushed on to New iberia, another
important pace on the Teche.
Nearly all the inhabitants were French
and m nv Of them could not speak En-.
glish, the latter fact was true of the ne
groes as well, and it was amusing to hear
them talking in foreign tongue.
A black faco had so long been associated
with "negro talk" that this departure was
Curious and interesting.
The well -to-do people lived in quaint,
many -gabled, oil! houses.
Some Of them before the war were very
we llthy. These French were genuine
,reolcs The October days spent at New
Iberia were delightful in the extreme
soft hay weather. The foraging parties
brought in plenty Of honey, sweet pota-
toes, chickens, and turkeys, and milk in
abundance was procured Of the inhabit-
ants Pecans were found in plenty and
oranges delicious in quality were, ripanlnS
in the orchards. ..#.ss ".
A printing Office was found complete
this was taken possession OF by some ex-
perts Of the writer's regiment, and, upon
the plain side OF sheets of wall paper, a
new periodical was started, called the
Unconditional Surrender Grant or course,
but few numbers were published, but
these were of much interest TO members
of the command. .....
For a timc here the writer assisted In
fitting up u church for a hospital. The
pews were taken out and cots put in OF
convenient distances.
A cavalry brigade had gone further on,
to Nerml!lion Bayou, and here had an en-
Gagement with the enemy There were
quite nun Der wounded, and IL was for
the reception Of these that the church was
cxtemporized into o hospital. In the
afternoon when they were expected coffee
and tea were made, and soup, beef tea,
milk punch, toddies, etc, prepared. The
ambulance train, however, did not get in
till in the night. The wounded were
transferred from the ambulances to cots
in the church, nearly oil OF which were
finally filled. Most Of the injuries re-
cclved were from musket balls.
The wounds had however been dressed,
and well cared for before starting, and
any needed amputations male at tho time
or soon after injury. In day or two the
wounded were all put on boat, and went
in this way to a general hospital